Portuguese-Palestinian short film premiering in Türkiye and the USA.

The short documentary film Free Fish , by Palestinian director Bisan Owda, with Portuguese co-production, will premiere this week at two festivals, in Turkey and the United States of America, it was announced this Thursday.

Free Fish , filmed in the Gaza Strip, will be shown simultaneously at the Turkish TRT – International Documentary Awards festival (Istanbul) and the Doc Stories festival (San Francisco, USA), both starting this Thursday.

The short film is a co-production between Tellers Productions (Palestine) and the Portuguese independent production company Don't Skip Humanity , produced by Carolina Pereira.

Filmed over a year in the Gaza Strip, the film documents the story of two Palestinian brothers, both fishermen, separated by war but linked by the sea.

“Once a source of sustenance and freedom, the sea has become a battlefield — heavily restricted, constantly watched and always dangerous. (…) The film captures the daily courage it takes to cast a net, mend a line or share a meal ,” reads the synopsis of the film in the Turkish festival program.

Bisan Owda, 26, was born in Gaza and became known in 2021 for documenting, and sharing on Instagram, stories and accounts of life in Gaza, witnessing the impact of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

After the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, Bisan Owda's videos became proof of life and a denunciation of the destruction in Palestine, maintaining a humanized account of civilian stories.

In 2024, Bisan Owda was honored in the United States with a Peabody Award and an Emmy Award for her project " It's Bisan from Gaza and I'm Still Alive ".

Carolina Pereira is a Portuguese filmmaker, screenwriter, and activist, founder of the independent production company Don't Skip Humanity and author of the short documentary film What We Carried , featuring three generations of Palestinian women.